title: Conservation of ammonia during food waste composting.
abstract: An experiment was conducted to quantify ammonia (NH3) losses during food waste composting and to evaluate the effectiveness of mature aerobic sewage sludge/olive pomace compost and phillipsite/chabazite zeolite in reducing NH3 losses during composting. Food waste amended with chopped barley straw was composted for a period of 68 days in three in-vessel reactors. The mature aerobic sewage sludge/olive pomace compost and the zeolite were placed on a mesh tray above the waste mixture in the first and second reactors, respectively. The third reactor contained straw-amended food waste only and served as a control. It was found that the mature aerobic sewage sludge/olive pomace compost reduced NH3-N losses by 36% of initial TN through nitrifying volatilized NH3 into nitrate (NO3-). Zeolite reduced NH3-N losses by 41% of initial total nitrogen due to adsorption of volatilized NH3. The use of mature compost in conservation of nitrogen is a promising cheap method; however, it needs further optimization and research.
authors.affiliation: Flat 4, 38 Manor Park, London, SE13 5RN, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Al-Jabi
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Halalsheh
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Badarneh
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D000641:Ammonia / Q000378:metabolism*; D005502:Food; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology; D012987:Soil; D017641:Zeolites / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage; D012987:Soil; D017641:Zeolites; D000641:Ammonia; D009584:Nitrogen